Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 OC

The Sapphire Radeon 7870 OC is overclocked
from the default 1000 MHz, to 1050 MHz on the core with memory left at the
default 4800 MHz DDR. It uses the reference PCB design and Sapphire’s Dual-X
cooling system, which is similar to both MSI and ASUS, with five copper heat
pipes connected to an array of cooling fins, with two fans providing airflow.
As with the other cards in our shootout, Sapphire’s model offers the same ports
as the reference design, with one DVI-D port, two mini-Display Port ports and
one HDMI port. As expected, it’s also powered by dual 6-pin PCIe Molex power
connectors.

GPU Transistor count: 2.8 billion

Core clock: 1050MHz

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory cock (DDR): 4800 MHz

Price: $485

Sapphire’s
Dual-X cooling system utilizes five copper heat pipes is direct contact with
the GPU.

Importing vs purchasing locally

In the United States, AMD has priced the
reference Radeon HD 7870 at $349, which fills a price-point right in the middle
of AMD’s lineup between the Radeon HD 7950 at $399, and the Radeon HD 7850 at
$249.

In Singapore however, a reference-class
Radeon HD 7870 retails for about $490, while a reference Radeon HD 7950 has an
RRP of $559, but can be had for as low as $518 (i.e Power Color) at the time of
writing.

The difference in price are mainly due to
the additional costs of importing, shipping, warranty and support for a finite
group of local DIY users, this and cards, which erodes much of the value of the
Radeon HD 7870 (particularly for custom models). As such, some users may prefer
to spend a little bit more to get the more powerful Radeon 7950.

Specifications

Model:ASUS
Radeon HD 7870 Direct CU II TOP

Core code: Pitcairn XT

CPU transistor count: 2.8 billion

Manufacturing process: 28 nm

Core clock speed: 1100 MHz

Stream processing units: 1280

Texture mapping units (TMU): 80

Raste operator units (ROP): 32

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory clock speed (DDR): 5000 MHz DDR

Memory bus width: 256-bit

Memory bandwidth: 153.6GB/s

PCI express interface: PCIe v3.0 x 16
(GDDR55)

DVI outputs: 1

HDMI outputs: 1

DisplayPort outputs: 2

HDCP output: Yes

Dimensions: 264 x 114 x 43 mm

Weight: 550g

Price: $539

ASUS
Radeon HD 7870 DirectCU II TOP

Model: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 OC

Core code: Pitcairn XT

CPU transistor count: 2.8 billion

Manufacturing process: 28 nm

Core clock speed: 1100 MHz

Stream processing units: 1280

Texture mapping units (TMU): 80

Raste operator units (ROP): 32

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory clock speed (DDR): 4800 MHz DDR

Memory bus width: 256-bit

Memory bandwidth: 153.6 GB/s

PCI express interface: PCIe v3.0 x 16

DVI outputs: 1

HDMI outputs: 1

DisplayPort outputs: 2

HDCP output: Yes

Dimensions: 280 x 134 x 42.5 mm

Weight: 700g

Price: $510

Gigabyte
Radeon HD 7870 OC

Model:HIS
Radeon HD 7870 IceQ Turbo

Core code: Pitcairn XT

CPU transistor count: 2.8 billion

Manufacturing process: 28 nm

Core clock speed: 1100 MHz

Stream processing units: 1280

Texture mapping units (TMU): 80

Raste operator units (ROP): 32

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory clock speed (DDR): 4800 MHz DDR

Memory bus width: 256-bit

Memory bandwidth: 153.6 GB/s

PCI express interface: PCIe v3.0 x 16

DVI outputs: 1

HDMI outputs: 1

DisplayPort outputs: 2

HDCP output: Yes

Dimensions: 297 x 140 x 44 mm

Weight: 810g

Price: $530

HIS
Radeon HD 7870 IceQ Turbo

Model: MSI Radeon HD 7870 Hawk

Core code: Pitcairn XT

CPU transistor count: 2.8 billion

Manufacturing process: 28 nm

Core clock speed: 1100 MHz

Stream processing units: 1280

Texture mapping units (TMU): 80

Raste operator units (ROP): 32

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory clock speed (DDR): 5000 MHz DDR

Memory bus width: 256-bit

Memory bandwidth: 153.6 GB/s

PCI express interface: PCIe v3.0 x 16

DVI outputs: 1

HDMI outputs: 1

DisplayPort outputs: 2

HDCP output: Yes

Dimensions: 277 x 120 x 40.5 mm

Weight: 820g

Price: $519

MSI
Radeon HD 7870 Hawk

Model: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 OC

Core code: Pitcairn XT

CPU transistor count: 2.8 billion

Manufacturing process: 28 nm

Core clock speed: 1050 MHz

Stream processing units: 1280

Texture mapping units (TMU): 80

Raste operator units (ROP): 32

Memory: 2GB GDDR5

Memory clock speed (DDR): 4800 MHz DDR

Memory bus width: 256-bit

Memory bandwidth: 153.6GB/s

PCI express interface: PCIe v3.0 x 16
(GDDR55)

DVI outputs: 1

HDMI outputs: 1

DisplayPort outputs: 2

HDCP output: Yes

Dimensions: 260 x 113 x 35mm

Weight: 650g

Price: $485

Sapphire
Radeon HD 7870 OC

What is GDDR5 Memory?

GDDR5 refers to 5th-generation
Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR) memory, a type of high-performance memory
designed for graphics cards that require high bandwidth. Conforming to
standards set out by JEDEC (an independent body that develops standards for
semiconductor devices), GDDR5 is actually based on DDR3 SDRAM. AMD happens to
be the first company to ship products using GDDR5 memory, starting with the
Radeon HD 4870 series back in 2008.